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Originally Posted by Polaris87
Did you manage to complete the online form?
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It did allow me to complete my form online, but maybe it's because I got my original student loan so long ago (it was under the 'old' rules and repayments are paid by direct debit over a fixed term rather than the current collection through tax).
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Originally Posted by skeating
I agree with most of above, but by my reading of the information available (and there does seem to be several conflicting sources) I came to the conclusion that we would not be entitled to any form of student loan, as this would be a second degree for all of us on the GEP scheme.
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Sam,
This is true for all second degrees except those leading to a professional qualification, such as medicine, dentistry, social work or teacher training and comes from paragraph 62(1) of "The Education (Student Support) Regulations 2007 No. 176" (
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2007/uksi_20070176_en_7#pt6), which reads:
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62.—(1) Subject to paragraph (3), a current system student qualifies for a loan for living costs in connection with his attendance on a designated course if he meets the following conditions—
(a) he is under the age of 60 on the relevant date; and
(b) he does not have an honours degree from an institution in the United Kingdom.
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However this goes on in 62(2) to say:
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(2) The condition in paragraph (1)(b) does not apply where—
(a) the designated course is listed in regulation 6(6);
(b) the designated course leads to qualification as a social worker;
(c) the current system student is eligible to receive any payment under a healthcare bursary the amount of which is calculated by reference to his income or a Scottish healthcare allowance the amount of which is calculated by reference to his income in respect of any academic year of the course; or
(d) the current system student is on a course for the initial training of teachers.
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Exemption in (c) may apply to us, because we qualify for an NHS bursary even though we can’t claim it until the second year. However even if that that isn't the case (a) points us back to 6(6) which does specifically mention medicine:
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(6) Paragraph (5) applies to a course the standard of which is not higher than a first degree which leads to a qualification as a medical doctor, dentist, veterinary surgeon, architect, landscape architect, landscape designer, landscape manager, town planner or town and country planner.
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Isn't secondary legislation fun!
If in any doubt about my interpretation, the parliamentary “Innovation, Universities, Science and Skills Committee” shares it as can be seen in part 2 of their “Withdrawal of funding for equivalent or lower level qualifications (ELQs)” report (
http://www.publications.parliament.u...us/187/187.pdf), page 8 paragraph number 10, where it says:
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Loans to assist with living costs are only available for ELQ students studying designated courses such as social work, initial teacher training or medicine.
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I hope I’ve been able to provide enough evidence to show that we are, indeed, entitled to the loan for maintenance. So go on, apply!
Stephen
